Man lost 3 billion after phone call
Transferring money to the account number of the person claiming to be a criminal police officer to prove his innocence, Mr. Huynh was later unable to contact him again.
On September 24, Ho Chi Minh City Police coordinated with District 5 to verify many account numbers to investigate the case of Mr. Huynh (49 years old) who was scammed out of 3 billion VND by someone claiming to be a Hanoi Police officer.
According to the report, Mr. Huynh received a phone call from a young man who identified himself as Lieutenant Lam Thanh Trung, working at the Criminal Police Department of Hanoi Police. Seeing that he clearly stated his personal information, and checking the phone number that called belonged to Hanoi Police, Mr. Huynh believed it was really the police.
In the next call, the young man said that Mr. Huynh was involved in some activities of a money laundering gang, and asked to provide many bank accounts and amounts of money for verification or he would be arrested. Mr. Huynh was scared and explained that his source of money was clean, but the man got angry and refused.
The person claiming to be a criminal police officer asked Mr. Huynh to transfer all the money to the "safe account of the investigation agency". After the review is completed, if it is determined that his money is not related to the criminal gang, it will be transferred back.
Mr. Huynh went to the bank twice on Tran Hung Dao and Ta Quang Buu streets (District 5) to transfer a total of 3 billion VND to the account number given by the "lieutenant". After waiting for a long time without seeing the investigation agency return the money, the victim called again but could not contact him, so he went to the police to report.
District 5 police identified Mr. Huynh's account to receive money as belonging to Pham Van Nam and Bui Thi Loan. The investigation agency is coordinating with banks to verify the identity and arrest the scammer.
Previously, Ho Chi Minh City Police had repeatedly warned provinces and cities about phone scams. Gangs led by foreigners, colluding with some Vietnamese people, pretend to be police officers, prosecutors, calling people's homes to threaten them with involvement in crimes, demanding money transfers for verification and then embezzling money.
The phone numbers displayed to listeners belong to the Ministry of Public Security, the People's Procuracy... and are faked using high technology.
